West African science media forum to 'stir development'

Shares

[COTONOU, BENIN] Science journalists and communication
specialists in West Africa have established a forum to promote science
journalism in the region and to disseminate scientific and technological
developments to the public.

The new forum emerged out of the First West Africa Science
Journalists Conference (WASJC), held in Benin's economic hub, Cotonou,
last week (26–28 November). The conference was organised by the Benin
Association of Science Journalists and Communicators (AJCSB), with the
support of SciDev.Net.

The conference recommended that science journalists from West Africa that includes countries such as Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo should form a network to share
experiences and help bolster the capacity of journalists and
communicators. Journalists should also engage with colleagues from other
regions to help improve science journalism in the region, the
conference recommended.

Onche Odeh, president of the Nigeria Association of Science
Journalists (NASJ), says the creation of the West Africa Forum of
Science Journalists and Communicators marks the beginning of a new era
for science journalism in the region.

"It will serve as an additional platform to give more [science] journalists […] in the region the chance to improve networking with colleagues in neighbouring countries and sources within the region and beyond," Odeh tells SciDev.Net.
"It is also a major opportunity for science journalists [in the region]
to measure themselves against international standards in science and
science journalism."

Experts hope the forum will be a major platform that could help
improve transnational co-operation among francophone and anglophone
nations in the area, by bringing together different voices to 'stir development' nationally and regionally.

"It is an urgent need to stimulate the large-scale practice of
science journalism in the West African media," says Christophe D.
Assogba, president of the AJCSB, and newly elected chairman of the West
African forum. This will help "increase awareness and improve the
quality of life for people facing huge problems [to which] science has
found solutions, but [which] they ignore because of the absence of
adequate information," he adds.

Esther Tola, a freelance science journalist from Benin,
believes science journalism is a sector requiring precision and
cooperation between journalists, enabling them to exchange ideas and
develop stories together.

"Forming a forum will create leverage for African science journalists in their demands for information and assistance from the scientific community," Tola tells SciDev.Net.

This will enable them interact with the scientific community as
journalist with a common front and also get better recognition from
scientific institutions.

Félix Houinsou, a media specialist at the Africa Rice Centre, a
pan-African rice research organisation based in Benin, describes the
new forum as "an ideal setting for journalists to exchange views on issues related to science and technology in Africa".

"This will help strengthen [journalists'] capacity for
processing scientific information and better informing the public
through the media," Houinsou adds. By facilitating relationships between journalists and scientists, Houinsou also hopes the forum will "give visibility to the achievements of scientific research".

This article has been produced by SciDev.Net's Sub-Saharan Africa desk.